Rome fell eventually, and the opium dream was over." "There are no longer barbarians to overthrow civilization." "We can be our own barbarians, - Isaac Asimov

I know. A fire eater must eat fire even if he has to kindle it himself. And you, Lee, have got to worry even if you must kill yourself to invent something to worry about.

In <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/61942.Hamilton" rel="nofollow noopener" title="Hamilton">Hamilton</a>'s The Universe Wreckers... it was in that novel that, for the first time, I learned Neptune had a satellite named Triton... It was from
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4823723.The_Drums_of_Tapajos" rel="nofollow noopener" title="The Drums of Tapajos">The Drums of Tapajos</a>
that I first learned there was a Mato Grosso area in the Amazon basin. It was from
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12048865.The_Black_Star_Passes" rel="nofollow noopener" title="The Black Star Passes">The Black Star Passes</a>
and other stories by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4503177.John_W__Campbell" rel="nofollow noopener" title="John W. Campbell">John W. Campbell</a> that I first heard of relativity.

The pleasure of reading about such things in the dramatic and fascinating form of science fiction gave me a push toward science that was irresistible. It was science fiction that made me want to be a scientist strongly enough to eventually make me one.

That is not to say that science fiction stories can be completely trusted as a source of specific knowledge... However, the misguidings of science fiction can be unlearned. Sometimes the unlearning process is not easy, but it is a low price to pay for the gift of fascination over science.

There are always tales and there is always a patriotic refusal to disbelieve, even though the tales are never in the least credible and are never believed by anyone not of the world that produces them.